i watched it last night and was really surprised how good it was, no spoilers but it looked like the writers had taken it back to its earlier roots, i found it very funny with a couple of laugh out loud moments which for me is bloody rare

measuring intelligence by exam results is like measuring digestion by turd length

I was a bit worried that they were maybe stretching it too far and it would be awful after such a long gap. I'm glad I was wrong and I really enjoyed it. Like you Chris, I rarely laugh out loud at tv programs but found quite a few bits that caught me. On the whole, a very promising start to the series.

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.

I actually read in Tom Baker's autobiography that a 'rimmer' was army slang for someone who tried to avoid VD by oral sex.

Which is ironic, as fellating an orangutan is amongst the many things Rimmer would do simultaneously if it meant becoming an officer. It's in the first book, Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers, though I forget whether he said that in the TV show.

Actually, there's a deleted scene in Rimmerworld that details the fates of Rimmer's brothers. Can't find it on YouTube, but the upshot was that Arnold Rimmer is actually less insane than his supposedly successful brothers ended up.

Here's the actual complete quote for you, Bouncy. Just 'cause I want to hear you scream in horror again.

Given the opportunity, he [Rimmer] would gladly have had his eyes scooped out if it meant he could become and officer. He would happily have inserted two red hot needles simultaneously through both his ears so they met in the middle of his brain, and tap-danced the title song from 42nd Street barefoot on a bed of molten lava while giving oral sex to a male orang-utan with dubious personal hygiene, if only it meant attaining that single, elusive golden bar of an Astronavigation Officer, Fourth Class.

But he had to do something much more demanding, much more impossible, and much more unpleasant. He had to pass the astronavigation exam.

I've just watched almost the entire series back to back, and just finished Back to Earth for the first time. I found Back to Earth a bit meh. The storyline, while decent, was done before, and better, by the League of Gentlemen. There were some good dramatic notes with Lister and Kochanski. Not too sure about the surplus of Blade Runner references, though.

I'm just hoping Red Dwarf X is an improvement. Anyone want to reassure me that Red Dwarf X is a return to form?